Friday, January 28, 2000
School board accused of caving
CPS didn't want strike to hurt levies
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Board of Education may have handed its critics political ammunition Wednesday when members endorsed a fact-finder's report to end a labor dispute and avert a strike.
Board members said they approved the report partly to preserve public support for two March levies. The report, issued last Friday, mostly sided with teachers on 27 issues the district and Cincinnati Federation of Teachers couldn't resolve.
Members of the CFT overwhelmingly approved the recommendations in voting Wednesday and Thursday, effectively establishing a contract between the union and the board.
Members of the union representing office workers rejected a fact-finder's contract recommendations, however, returning both sides to the bargaining table.
Some critics called the board's decision cowardly. In a district where teachers' salaries are among the highest statewide, critics said, the labor dispute provided an opportunity for the district to stand up against its 3,200 teachers.
Members of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) said they plan to use this week's events in efforts to torpedo the CPS levies, which total $104 million.
“Cincinnati teachers are the most overpaid in Ohio, if you look at results vs. compensation. Yet every time we have a chance to take on the teachers union, the school board backs down,” said COAST President Chris Finney.
But board members said accepting the fact-finder's report was the lesser of two evils. The report covered issues ranging from class size and workday hours to charter schools and hiring. It offered a compromise on salaries, with teachers getting a 2 percent raise this year and 3 percent for each of the contract's final two years.
Teachers approved the fact-finder's report 2,558-52, ending all threats of a strike. Office workers rejected a separate fact-finding report, 274-14.
The Association of Cincinnati Public School Office Personnel, which represents about 400 district office workers, must return to the negotiating table with the board, this time with a mediator who will attempt to help them resolve their differences on issues such as staffing levels and salary.
The office workers, who also voted to strike if talks stall, rejected the fact-finding report because it offered only a 2 percent temporary raise for six months, followed by renegotiations on salary increases after the March 7 levy vote.
Teachers on Monday had authorized union leaders to call a strike if negotiations proceeded too slowly.
The district couldn't risk a strike with coming proficiency testing and the March levies, board member Harriet Russell said.
“The decision we made was a question of putting the continued, nondisrupted education of our children ahead of political rhetoric,” Ms. Russell said.
The administration had offered to extend the teachers' current contract through April 1 to continue negotiations after the levy vote and tests. The union declined.
The school board didn't cave to the union, Ms. Russell said. The labor dispute “became a distraction from (teachers') focus on working with students,” she said.
Levy pressures also contributed, she said.
“When you ask voters to approve a levy, the voters want to know that the adults are working together for the benefit of the children in the district,” she added. “That would not be clear if we had a strike.”
But to some voters, little could persuade them to support more taxes.
“I highly support public schools; I always have,” said Catherine Hill, 64, a retired teacher from Carthage. “But being retired, I can't afford a big tax increase.
“They have some excellent teachers in the public school system, but if I made $50,000 today, I would get down on my knees and thank almighty God,” Mrs. Hill said, referring to CPS teacher salaries that range from $29,300 to $60,650 a year. “Teachers deserve a lot, but when they're already making good pay, the schools are crumbling, they cut transportation and they cut librarians, teachers should be willing to take a freeze.”
A 6.5-mill levy, which is a new tax, would boost the tax bill for a $75,000 home by $150 annually. A 11.92-levy, which would renew and combine two existing levies, represents about $275 for a $75,000 home. The average home in the district is valued at $75,000, district Treasurer Richard Gardner said.
COAST spokesman Tom Brinkman Jr. said the group has started raising money to support its anti-tax cause. Members plan to use radio ads, yard signs and speaking appearances to fight the levies.
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